Business
As Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Looms, Restaurants’ Undocumented Workers Fear the Worst
As the Trump administration rolls out its changes to the immigration system, fear is surging in the food-service industry as it braces itself for a promised crackdown on unauthorized workers.
Immigrant labor, both authorized and unauthorized, is integral to the staffing and running of restaurants in the United States. In a 2024 data brief, the National Restaurant Association reported that 21 percent of restaurant workers in the United States were immigrants. That figure does not include unauthorized workers, however; the Center for Migration Studies has estimated they number an additional one million employees.
Under the new administration, proprietors and workers are preparing for the worst.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep at the Ocean Seafood Depot in Newark on Thursday deepened the anxiety (though it is unclear whether the action, which resulted in three arrests, was part of the Trump administration’s plan). And many restaurant owners around the country were reluctant to be interviewed, saying they worried that their businesses and workers would be targeted. Several declined to comment at all.
Chicago and its restaurant industry have been anticipating actions by ICE since plans for post-inauguration immigration actions were leaked to the news media last week, with Chicago slated to be the first location.
Even well-known Chicago chefs and restaurateurs who have been vocal about political issues in the past, including immigration, were hesitant to speak publicly about the threat of immigration arrests, so as not to put “a target” on their businesses and employees as numerous owners told The New York Times.
A photo provided to The Times shows a handwritten sign in the kitchen of a prominent Chicago restaurant that reads: “Don’t let ICE in the building! And no snitching!” (The person who provided the photo asked that the restaurant not be named for fear of it being targeted.) And scripts have been passed around to employees at the restaurant, with recommended phrases to use in the event that they’re confronted by ICE agents.
One veteran Chicago chef and restaurateur, who asked not to be named for fear that his restaurant would be targeted by ICE, said that since Monday he had been keeping a binder at the host’s stand that advises employees what to do in case of an ICE visit.
The chef said employees who speak openly about the fear of ICE are those he knows stand no risk of actually being deported. “If you are one of the people who is legitimately worried about your immigration status,” he said, “you are going to be pretty quiet about it where you work.”
Andres Reyes said the threat of an immigration crackdown has been a topic of conversation among employees and customers at both locations of his Chicago restaurant, Birrierias Ocotlan. His father, Ramon, opened the original restaurant in 1973 in South Chicago, one of the city’s oldest Mexican immigrant neighborhoods.
“We have people who have been here for 40 years who are still working on getting their papers — and they are not criminals,” he said, referring to community members, not his employees. “They are working and they are contributing members of society. It’s unfortunate that they could be caught in the middle.”
According to the Migration Policy Institute, 53 percent of the unauthorized immigrants in Illinois have lived in the United States for more than 15 years, and 37 percent have at least one child who is a U.S. citizen.
Mr. Reyes attributed reduced business and slower-than-normal street traffic in the neighborhood in part to fear of the sweeps. “A lot of the unauthorized immigrants are now not spending money, because they are afraid of deportation or a setback,” he said.
Another of Chicago’s well-known Mexican American chefs, who requested anonymity, said misinformation was making an already stressful situation worse. The chef’s restaurant went on high alert on three occasions recently, after employees got word that nearby restaurants were being raided by immigration agents — only to learn that the rumors were false.
In Los Angeles, where longstanding fears of immigration enforcement had subsided in recent years, anxieties were running high among food-service professionals.
California is the state with the largest number of unauthorized immigrants — 1.8 million, according to the Pew Research Center. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 950,000 of those people live in Los Angeles County. (More than half of those have lived in the United States for more than 15 years, and 17 percent are homeowners.)
One Los Angeles chef and restaurant owner, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Mexico, was preparing Friday for a meeting to address the fear of ICE visits with his entire staff and go over their plan, which included instructions on where to safely shelter in the building. ICE agents can legally visit public-facing areas of a business, like a dining room, but need either a warrant or permission from the staff to enter private spaces.
“Tensions are high, and this is something we should prepare for, like any emergency,” said the chef, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We should have a plan in place.”
A chef in San Francisco, who requested anonymity, said he hoped preparation would temper the angst among restaurant workers.
The chef, an unauthorized immigrant himself, was fielding questions from a jumpy staff. “When you’re scared, you’re scared of anyone in a uniform,” he said. “You see cops and wonder if they’re going to come inside — you don’t know what kind of power they have.”
He handed all of his employees fliers and cards made by an immigration lawyer with basic information about their rights. The chef plans to attend a seminar next week with local restaurateurs and lawyers to gather more information and legal advice.
He also had a conversation with his family about what to do if he were detained — whom to call first and where to go. “All we can do right now is get prepared, instead of feeling scared, which is easier said than done.”
In Washington, D.C., Erik Bruner-Yang, the chef and owner of Maketto, is awaiting guidance from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington.
“I think right now everyone’s waiting to see what’s really going to happen with immigration,” he said. “R.A.M.W. has been really good about providing resources, and they were during the first Trump administration. To be fair, the Obama and the Biden administration weren’t that great, either, when it came to deportations.”
Téa Ivanovic, a founder and the chief operating officer of Immigrant Food, which has a location a block from the White House, said the unintended consequences of mass deportations could extend far beyond the fate of individual workers.
“I think as any business owner, especially in the food industry, where we’re completely dependent on immigrant labor and it’s a trillion-dollar industry,” she said. “I think it’s very concerning when they’re talking about workplace raids.”
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The sale of Warner Bros. — whether in pieces to Netflix or in its entirety to Paramount — is stirring mounting worries among Hollywood union leaders about the possible fallout for their members.
Unions representing writers, directors, actors and crew workers have voiced growing concerns that further consolidation in the media industry will reduce competition, potentially causing studios to pay less for content, and make it more difficult for people to find work.
“We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends,” said Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West. “There are lots of promises made that one plus one is going to equal three. But it’s very hard to envision how two behemoths, for example, Warner Bros. and Netflix … can keep up the level of output they currently have.”
Last week, Netflix announced it agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studio, Burbank lot, HBO and HBO Max for $27.75 a share, or $72 billion. It also agreed to take on more than $10 billion of Warner Bros.’ debt. But Paramount, whose previous offers were rebuffed by Warner Bros., has appealed directly to shareholders with an alternative bid to buy all of the company for about $78 billion.
Paramount said it will have more than $6 billion in cuts over three years, while also saying the combined companies will release at least 30 movies a year. Netflix said it expects its deal will have $2 billion to $3 billion in cost cuts.
Those cuts are expected to trigger thousands of layoffs across Hollywood, which has already been squeezed by the flight of production overseas and a contraction in the once booming TV business.
Mulroney said that employment for WGA writers in episodic television is down as much as 40% when comparing the 2023-2024 writing season to 2022-2023.
Executives from both companies have said their deals would benefit creative talent and consumers.
But Hollywood union leaders are skeptical.
“We can hear the generalizations all day long, but it doesn’t really mean anything unless it’s on paper, and we just don’t know if these companies are even prepared to make promises in writing,” said Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters at-large vice president and principal officer for Local 399, which represents drivers, location managers and casting directors.
Dougherty said the Teamsters have been engaged with both Netflix and Paramount, seeking commitments to keep filming in Los Angeles.
“We have a lot of members that are struggling to find work, or haven’t really worked in the last year or so,” Dougherty said.
Mulroney said her union has concerns about both bids, either by Netflix or Paramount.
“We don’t think the merger is inevitable,” Mulroney said. “We think there’s an opportunity to push back here.”
If Netflix were to buy Warner Bros.’ TV and film businesses, Mulroney said that could further undermine the theatrical business.
“It’s hard to imagine them fully embracing theatrical exhibition,” Mulroney said. “The exhibition business has been struggling to get back on its feet ever since the pandemic, so a move like this could really be existential.”
But the Writers Guild also has issues with Paramount’s bid, Mulroney said, noting that it would put Paramount-owned CBS News and CNN under the same parent company.
“We have censorship concerns,” Mulroney said. “We saw issues around [Stephen] Colbert and [Jimmy] Kimmel. We’re concerned about what the news would look like under single ownership here.”
That question was made more salient this week after President Trump, who has for years harshly criticized CNN’s hosts and news coverage, said he believes CNN should be sold.
The worries come as some unions’ major studio contracts, including the DGA, WGA and performers guild SAG-AFTRA, are set to expire next year. Two years ago, writers and actors went on a prolonged strike to push for more AI protections and better wages and benefits.
The Directors Guild of America and performers union SAG-AFTRA have voiced similar objections to the pending media consolidation.
“A deal that is in the interest of SAG-AFTRA members and all other workers in the entertainment industry must result in more creation and more production, not less,” the union said.
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the union has been in discussions with both Paramount and Netflix.
“It is as yet unclear what path forward is going to best protect the legacy that Warner Brothers presents, and that’s something that we’re very actively investigating right now,” he said.
It’s not clear, however, how much influence the unions will have in the outcome.
“They just don’t have a seat at the ultimate decision making table,” said David Smith, a professor of economics at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “I expect their primary involvement could be through creating more awareness of potential challenges with a merger and potentially more regulatory scrutiny … I think that’s what they’re attempting to do.”
Businessman Brian Kahn has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a case that brought down a hedge fund, helped lead to the bankruptcy of a retailer and damaged West Los Angeles investment bank B. Riley Financial.
Kahn, 52, admitted in a Trenton, N.J., federal court Wednesday to hiding trading losses that brought down Prophecy Asset Management in 2020. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged the losses exceeded $400 million.
An investor lawsuit has accused Kahn of funneling some of the fund’s money to Franchise Group, a Delaware retail holding company assembled by the investor that owned Vitamin Shoppe, Pet Supplies Plus and other chains.
B. Riley provided $600 million through debt it raised to finance a $2.8-billion management buyout led by Kahn in 2023. It also took a 31% stake in the company and lent Kahn’s investment fund $201 million, largely secured with shares of Franchise Group.
Kahn had done deals with B. Riley co-founder Bryant Riley before partnering with the L.A. businessman on Franchise Group.
However, the buyout didn’t work out amid fallout from the hedge fund scandal and slowing sales at the retailers. Franchise Group filed for bankruptcy in November 2024. A slimmed-down version of the company emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
B. Riley has disclosed in regulatory filings that the firm and Riley have received SEC subpoenas regarding its dealings with Kahn, Franchise group and other matters.
Riley, 58, the firm’s chairman and co-chief executive, has denied knowledge of wrongdoing, and an outside law firm reached the same conclusion.
The failed deal led to huge losses at the financial services firm that pummeled B. Riley’s stock, which had approached $90 in 2021. Shares were trading Friday at $3.98.
The company has marked down its Franchise Group investment, and has spent the last year or so paring debt through refinancing, selling off parts of its business and other steps, including closing offices.
The company announced last month it is changing its name to BRC Group Holdings in January. It did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At Wednesday’s plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Kelly Lyons said that Kahn conspired to “defraud dozens of investors who had invested approximately $360 million” through “lies, deception, misleading statements and material omissions.”
U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp released Kahn on a $100,000 bond and set an April 2 sentencing date. He faces up to five years in prison. Kahn, his lawyer and Lyons declined to comment after the hearing.
Kahn is the third Prophecy official charged over the hedge fund’s collapse. Two other executives, John Hughes and Jeffrey Spotts, have also been charged.
Hughes pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. Spotts pleaded not guilty and faces trial next year. The two men and Kahn also have been sued by the SEC over the Prophecy collapse.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Chatty bots are sharing their hot takes through hundreds of thousands of AI-generated podcasts. And the invasion has just begun.
Though their banter can be a bit banal, the AI podcasters’ confidence and research are now arguably better than most people’s.
“We’ve just begun to cross the threshold of voice AI being pretty much indistinguishable from human,” said Alan Cowen, chief executive of Hume AI, a startup specializing in voice technology. “We’re seeing creators use it in all kinds of ways.”
AI can make podcasts sound better and cost less, industry insiders say, but the growing swarm of new competitors entering an already crowded market is disrupting the industry.
Some podcasters are pushing back, requesting restrictions. Others are already cloning their voices and handing over their podcasts to AI bots.
Popular podcast host Steven Bartlett has used an AI clone to launch a new kind of content aimed at the 13 million followers of his podcast “Diary of a CEO.” On YouTube, his clone narrates “100 CEOs With Steven Bartlett,” which adds AI-generated animation to Bartlett’s cloned voice to tell the life stories of entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Richard Branson.
Erica Mandy, the Redondo Beach-based host of the daily news podcast called “The Newsworthy,” let an AI voice fill in for her earlier this year after she lost her voice from laryngitis and her backup host bailed out.
She fed her script into a text-to-speech model and selected a female AI voice from ElevenLabs to speak for her.
“I still recorded the show with my very hoarse voice, but then put the AI voice over that, telling the audience from the very beginning, I’m sick,” Mandy said.
Mandy had previously used ElevenLabs for its voice isolation feature, which uses AI to remove ambient noise from interviews.
Her chatbot host elicited mixed responses from listeners. Some asked if she was OK. One fan said she should never do it again. Most weren’t sure what to think.
“A lot of people were like, ‘That was weird,’” Mandy said.
In podcasting, many listeners feel strong bonds to hosts they listen to regularly. The slow encroachment of AI voices for one-off episodes, canned ad reads, sentence replacement in postproduction or translation into multiple languages has sparked anger as well as curiosity from both creators and consumers of the content.
Augmenting or replacing host reads with AI is perceived by many as a breach of trust and as trivializing the human connection listeners have with hosts, said Megan Lazovick, vice president of Edison Research, a podcast research company.
Jason Saldanha of PRX, a podcast network that represents human creators such as Ezra Klein, said the tsunami of AI podcasts won’t attract premium ad rates.
“Adding more podcasts in a tyranny of choice environment is not great,” he said. “I’m not interested in devaluing premium.”
Still, platforms such as YouTube and Spotify have introduced features for creators to clone their voice and translate their content into multiple languages to increase reach and revenue. A new generation of voice cloning companies, many with operations in California, offers better emotion, tone, pacing and overall voice quality.
Hume AI, which is based in New York but has a big research team in California, raised $50 million last year and has tens of thousands of creators using its software to generate audiobooks, podcasts, films, voice-overs for videos and dialogue generation in video games.
“We focus our platform on being able to edit content so that you can take in postproduction an existing podcast and regenerate a sentence in the same voice, with the same prosody or emotional intonation using instant cloning,” said company CEO Cowen.
Some are using the tech to carpet-bomb the market with content.
Los Angeles podcasting studio Inception Point AI has produced its 200,000 podcast episodes, accounting for 1% of all podcasts published on the internet, according to CEO Jeanine Wright.
The podcasts are so cheap to make that they can focus on tiny topics, like local weather, small sports teams, gardening and other niche subjects.
Instead of a studio searching for a specific “hit” podcast idea, it takes just $1 to produce an episode so that they can be profitable with just 25 people listening.
“That means most of the stuff that we make, we have really an unlimited amount of experimentation and creative freedom for what we want to do,” Wright said.
One of its popular synthetic hosts is Vivian Steele, an AI celebrity gossip columnist with a sassy voice and a sharp tongue. “I am indeed AI-powered — which means I’ve got receipts older than your grandmother’s jewelry box, and a memory sharper than a stiletto heel on marble. No forgetting, no forgiving, and definitely no filter,” the AI discloses itself at the start of the podcast.
“We’ve kind of molded her more towards what the audience wants,” said Katie Brown, chief content officer at Inception Point, who helps design the personalities of the AI podcasters.
Inception Point has built a roster of more than 100 AI personalities whose characteristics, voices and likenesses are crafted for podcast audiences. Its AI hosts include Clare Delish, a cooking guidance expert, and garden enthusiast Nigel Thistledown.
The technology also makes it easy to get podcasts up quickly. Inception has found some success with flash biographies posted promptly in connection to people in the news. It uses AI software to spot a trending personality and create two episodes, complete with promo art and a trailer.
When Charlie Kirk was shot, its AI immediately created two shows called “Charlie Kirk Death” and “Charlie Kirk Manhunt” as a part of the biography series.
“We were able to create all of that content, each with different angles, pulling from different news sources, and we were able to get that content up within an hour,” Wright said.
Speed is key when it comes to breaking news, so its AI podcasts reached the top of some charts.
“Our content was coming up, really dominating the list of what people were searching for,” she said.
Across Apple and Spotify, Inception Point podcasts have now garnered 400,000 subscribers.
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